Developer Capcom hasn't officially revealed the next Resident Evil game — assumed to be Resident Evil 9 — yet, but rumors about the game's structure, setting, and plot have circulated online for many months. Now, there's a new leak that suggests the title was at one point very, very different compared to other entries in the legendary horror series.
The information comes from Dusk Golem, a known Capcom insider, who shared it in a thread on social media this week. In their posts, they allege that Resident Evil 9 began life as a "big open world multiplayer game," with Capcom initially conceptualizing it as the opposite of Resident Evil 7's linear single-player experience due to its underwhelming sales performance at release.
"So RE9 originally started development in 2017 ... after RE7 underperformed at launch to Capcom's expectations. RE7 went on to have a huge tail in sales, but this was a bit reactionary," they explained. "And the original version of RE9 was trying to be the opposite of RE7, IE big open world multiplayer game."
(2/6) for a while now, though a lot of what he's shared is about an old scrapped version of RE9, which he shared I think 11-12 months ago.So RE9 originally started development in 2017 (Andi says 2016/2017, but it was in early 2017 after RE7 underperformed at launch to Capcom'sMay 22, 2025
Dusk Golem then went on to note that after Resident Evil 7's rebound, Resident Evil 9 got a major rework that changed Capcom's vision for the project close to the launch of Resident Evil Village in 2021. One of the only holdovers from the original concept is that Leon Kennedy — a fan-favorite character from Resident Evil 2, 4, and 6 — remains the protagonist.
"RE9 originally starred Leon & Jill in a fictional island based off Singapore. ... That was where the old scrapped version of RE9 took place. HOWEVER, AGAIN, this is the old RE9, the project got a pretty heavy reboot in 2021 around the time Village came out, though a few things stayed the same like Leon is still the main character," they continued. "The rest I'll let Capcom reveal, I've decided to be more a tease than a leaker, as I've said. But I find scrapped game stuff interesting."
So when will Capcom reveal Resident Evil 9 officially? There's no way to say for sure, though in a separate post, Dusk Golem commented that they believe the game will get an announcement in 2025 and then come out at some point in 2026. If that's going to happen, Summer Games Fest on June 6 seems like a good time for it; it's worth noting that fans think they spotted an "IX" teaser for Resident Evil 9 in a Resident Evil 4 Remake video posted in late April, so the timing makes sense.
Dusk Golem didn't mention how Resident Evil 9 was rebooted, but given the eventual success of Resident Evil 7 and how popular Resident Evil Village was out of the gate, I'm assuming it's been reworked into another single-player experience — and if that's the case, I'm glad.
While I'm typically pretty open to studios trying new formats and ideas with long-running franchises, I have a strong desire to see Resident Evil specifically stick closer to its roots. Great single-player horror games are few and far between, and Resident Evil is one of the only series that's had consistently strong showings recently. Plus, you know...we all know how the last Resident Evil multiplayer project turned out.
Besides, Resident Evil Village already introduced some nonlinearity with its optional locations, secret paths, and some more open-ended zones, and I'd like to see Capcom keep exploring that semi-linear approach in single player before making something radically new with a full-fledged open world and multiplayer gameplay. Let me know if you agree or feel differently in the comments, though.
It's worth noting that while Resident Evil Village — the latest chronological entry in the franchise — is usually $40, you can get it on PC for just $14.99 at CDKeys thanks to this discount. The console versions I've linked to in the box below are on sale, too.
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